What is Peoples Bank?
Mr. Bochnowski: Peoples Bank is a community bank with 615 million in assets located in northwest Indiana. The bank is the subsidiary of our public company, the Northwest Indiana Bancorp (NWIN). We are approximately 20-25 miles from downtown Chicago. In fact, if I look out of the window of my office, I can see two-thirds of the Sears Tower. The company was started in 1910. I always joke that I came up the hard way. Both my father and grandfather were Presidents here before me. What many people don’t know is that my grandfather was an immigrant to this country in the 1890s and he worked in the steel mills. But he also had a side business, which was a dance hall and saloon, and that particular business had the only safe in the neighborhood that eventually evolved into a classic bank. During the first two decades of its existence, the business line included a state bank, a building and loan association, a real estate company and an insurance company. All of that fell by the wayside in the